Power Rangers: Matrix
by Bahamut Dragons
Summary: When an asteroid comes crashing down on the city, four friends are chosen to fight a menace for Earth.


Power Rangers: Matrix

Power Rangers: Matrix

Episode 1: The new defenders

"We are approaching our destination sir."

The individually manned space capsules had been built for extended travels of several weeks. They kept all the pilots but one in stasis for the duration of the trip, until a danger was perceived or the destination had been reached. The remaining pilot had to keep awake and aware, making minor course corrections to the other three capsule ships. Spatz was the crew's scout and one of the command center's best pilots. In the past, he had defended his home world, Shao, against invaders from other regions of their galaxy. Eventually, the command center had promoted him lead pilot for interplanetary energy drain missions. He had to keep awake for long periods of time, with little mobility and a hunger which would last for the duration of the trip. All pilots were fed intravenously, and while it was no discomfort for the sleeping members of the team, a less apt pilot could go mad.

But this pilot had experience and resilience. His lineage ensured that he had no trouble supporting the lack of food and the close quarters. By now, he was used to such treatment and being chosen by the command center to lead the journey through space was such an honor that he never could have refused.

Through the radio, he could hear the other members of the team awaken, among them their leader Endran. This was not the first mission Spatz would accomplish with his leader and he had nothing but respect for him. Endran was clean and efficient when it came to attacking other planets and he knew how to strike hard and fast to get the job done in the least amount of time.

"Status report," he demanded, his voice showing no hint that he had been sleeping only a moment before. His voice was neutral as it usually was.

"We are now approaching the target undetected. The locals have not mastered space travel and communications yet. They should pose no threat to us."

"What is the planet's name?"

"The command center has it listed as 'Aznej 3'. The locals call it Earth."

"Earth," the leader repeated. It was a simple name, but somehow felt adequate. At least it wasn't cold like the planets the command center named. 'Earth' showed how the civilisation had kept part of their primitive natures, a kind of innocence. But soon, it would be all over.

By then, the other members of the team had awakened. Their targets were already set by Spatz and they couldn't change their destinations easily. But there was no reason to do so. For now, all they could do is enjoy the rest before work.

"We will be crash landing on Aznej 3 in less than four hours. I suggest that you prepare for your tasks. You know what to do." Every member was highly trained in their domains. They all agreed and turned their attention back to the bluish planet in the distance. Soon, they would commence its destruction.

Derek shook his head for the nth time. He didn't want to be here, even if it was his future. School had always been a burden, a chore to teach him most of what he already knew. He wanted to become a mechanic and had been working on cars with his dad since he was a teenager. Up until now, college had taught him nothing and he didn't expect anything interesting to come out of it in the remaining year, let alone today.

It certainly wasn't that Derek was lazy, on the contrary. He had an almost perfect attendance of classes, studied as hard as warranted and he worked part time at his dad's shop. He wasn't paid much in cash but his parents also paid for his studies and for his own car needs, including insurance, registration and gas for his Civic. Once he graduated, his dad would hire him full time, but not before. He said that school would forge character and prepare him for the world. And although Derek disagreed, he did enjoy going to college somewhat, a kind of transition phase to being an adult.

The student stretched and rubbed his eyes, still feeling traces of sleepiness. He was a tall young adult, almost scraping the six feet. His hair was short and dark and he wore a simple white shirt with the school's emblem in red, with blue jeans. He didn't really care for his appearance, preferring to keep his clothes simple. Still, girls did find him attractive, especially since he was both smart and fit.

The fall session had started weeks before and now the trees which adorned the scenery were turning to crimson and gold. The temperature had fallen a little, but not enough to require coats. Even though the day was still young, the campus streets were already filled with students, some of which were going towards their classes and others were just relaxing and talking. On the field nearby, some people were throwing the Frisbee around and found his friend Kae among them. He paused for a moment, observing her as she caught the flying disk, her dyed dark red hair floating around her as her leapt, turned and threw it in the distance. Kae was strong and precise, the disk spinning like a dangerous blade through the air, curving its path and avoiding foes until it reached its destination, a team mate who braced himself and clumsily caught the pass but still managed to score.

Kae loved sports and particularly enjoyed playing with the men, because on the field, she was as rough as they were. She had the strength and endurance of a man, but still managed to keep the grace of a woman. She was tall as well, even taller than Derek by two inches, no doubt thanks to her African heritage. She currently wore a yellow jersey with the red emblem of the school, along with her number: 34. In all the sports she did, Frisbee soccer and cosom hockey, her faithful number 34 followed. As the team cheered for the scored point, he noticed Derek in the distance and waved towards him. He smiled and gave him a thumb up. If he had time, he would have gone to greet and congratulate her, but time was ticking and he had to meet with Joshua before he got to class. Instead, he saluted her and went on his way, knowing that they would be meeting for diner later on.

The hall for his morning class was packed with students coming and going, many of which were taking books from their lockers. He found his best friend Joshua taking his own things out, while talking with his girlfriend Amanda. They seemed like the odd couple, Amanda looking like the typical cheerleader, a beauty with her tight pink clothes and neck long hair, but Derek knew not to be fooled: his sister was smart and aiming for a degree in quantum physics. Her interest in theoretical science was probably what had brought her to Joshua in the first place. He wasn't the conventional hottie, being an inch shorter than her and a bit on the heavy side, but when she talked about her science, he could understand her, even knowingly disagree with her. And he made her laugh. Derek teasingly called them Pierre and Marie Curie.

From the corner of his eye, Amanda noticed her brother and as he approached, he quickly stole a kiss from her boyfriend. Derek rolled his eyes and looked away for a moment. Once he set his eyes back on the couple, she winked teasingly and waved before leaving to her class.

"Josie, what did I tell you?" Derek asked with false annoyance. "Stop kissing my sister in public!" They both knew that Amanda was the tease, while Josie was a little more on the shy side, but it was a known convention not to mention it. Among friends, Joshua wasn't afraid to joke around and even make lewd comments and at times, he could overstep conventional bounds. For now, Derek didn't want to encourage him to do so. But Joshua couldn't let it go without a rebuttal either

"Only if you…" But then he paused for a moment, trying to find a good comeback. "You know, I don't think there is anything you could do to stop me from kissing my girlfriend in public and letting everyone know how much I love her."

She had kissed him and both of them knew it. But they also knew that Josie cared deeply for Amanda and that he felt pride to show it to the world. Derek simply nodded and chose to change topic, mentioning the homework he had to do for his afternoon class. He had worked on it the night before, but wasn't entirely certain of his work and he knew that Josie already passed the class with high marks. And since his teacher was particularly stern and would not tolerate many mistakes, he wanted to look it over before class and correct as many mistakes as possible. Their teacher considered that if the students had access to so many resources for their work, like their books and the Internet, then they should have no problem solving the equations given. Thankfully, Derek had a far greater resource than books or even the net itself.

Josie agreed to look over it during their lunch break, but for now they had to go to the only class they had in common. The clock struck the time and the class started. As always, Derek remained completely uninterested in the matter whilst Joshua kept active, taking notes and asking questions when needed. At the end of the year, they knew Josie would be among the top students while Derek remained around the average, sometimes above, never breaking any ground but never getting anywhere close to failure either. He was satisfied with that level.

The hours came and went and the class was finally over. The students stretched and left in a haste, stopping by their respective lockers before going outside. The sun was high up and so once Kae and Amanda joined them at their usual spot, they decided to eat under the shade of the trees, near the soccer field.

They each ate slowly, enjoying what remained of the warm temperature. Soon it would turn colder and colder until winter came. Derek and Kae sat on one side of the table, the girl intently looking at the couple on the other side. Joshua had his girlfriend against him and they were sharing bites of their lunch.

"You know, it's really great to see you two together," Kae said, taking another bite of her own sandwich. "I love seeing couple succeeding in love," she added with her mouth still full.

"Well I don't really have a choice Kae, Derek here'll kick my ass if I don't love her to the end of times."

"Hey!" Amy said, playfully punching him on the arm. They laughed, but knew that it was still a half truth. Derek had been very concerned when his best friend had started dating his sister. He had avoided intervening, knowing that his sister was perfectly capable of making her own decisions, but he had been afraid that if things went sour, he would have to choose between the two and it might break the group. He had been especially hesitant since Amy was so outgoing and the polar opposite of Joshua. Thankfully, their relationship was strong as ever and he had noticed many changes in his friend, often overcoming his shyness. Steadily and to his relief, the uncertain relationship had become a match in paradise.

But other than the blooming couple, the four students had been friends for many years, Derek and Joshua knowing each other since grade school and even keeping Amanda among them. As a kid, Amy liked to play with dolls and such, which the boys had no interest in, but she also shared other interests in common with them, like video games so she still managed stay included. And then Kae had joined the group during high school when she had transferred from another school, and had soon become her best friend. Like any friendship, there had been tough times, but together they had grown and matured, building complete trust and respect for each other. Even Derek and Amanda, as brother and sister, had never experienced any big fights like teenage siblings often did.

As the lunch break progressed, Derek took out his deck of cards and started shuffling them. Playing cards was one of those time honoured activities among them, especially during lunch. Amy had taken her place beside her boyfriend and was ready for the challenge, while Josie skimmed over his friend's homework to make sure there weren't any important mistakes he might have missed.

"What about that?" Kae asked, looking over to the homework as well and trying to make some sense of it. She was more of the sportive type and didn't have to follow the same courses as her friends, but still took some interest in science and such. "Shouldn't this be… this?" she asked as she wrote down the answer she thought was correct.

"It's a good try, but I'm afraid not. Derek is right on this one and here's why. When you mix…" but the rest of his sentence died in his mouth as Kae suddenly rose to her feet and pointed towards the sky. Her face and stance betrayed her fear, perhaps even terror and for a moment, she couldn't speak.

"Oh my God, WHAT IS THAT?" Kae finally managed to blurt out, prompting the others to look toward where she was pointing. In the distance, flaming orbs clashed against the blue sky, falling at what seemed like a slow pace, but they all knew it was deceptive with the distance. The orbs were getting larger by the second, increasing exponentially in size as the approached the ground. The students couldn't begin to guess the size they had, but they knew that the meteors would be hitting down nearby, perhaps at the outskirts of the city, perhaps in the city itself.

"Guys, we need to get out of here," Derek said, but no one moved their eyes transfixed on the vision. All around them had become more silent and had they been attentive of their surroundings, they would have heard only hushed whispers of confusion and fear from the other students. But everyone's attention was on the perpetually approaching danger, one they were powerless to prevent.

And then without warning, the meteors parted their ways, each now heading in a different direct to crash in. If they had been relatively safe before, Derek immediately realised that one of them was heading right for their campus.

"Oh crap," he said, taking a step in the direction opposite. The asteroid was shooting towards them like a bullet and he now saw how large it was. Derek didn't know much about physics, but he knew that if they stayed there, even if they avoided the meteor itself, they would get wiped out by the impact crater. "Guys… RUN!!" he shouted and they all dashed together as one towards the parking lot where Derek's car was. It wasn't far, but the menace was approaching at tremendous speed and the students didn't believe that they could outrun it. Fear had seized them whole, as well as other students and faculty members who had been spread around the field and were now running in all directions in hopes of avoiding the impending doom. But for all the energy of desperation, outrunning a meteor was impossible and for every foot they gained, the fireball fell a thousand more.

With each pending moment, they could feel the pressure of the deadly menace along with the heat of its flames. It was as if it wasn't content with being in fire, but even projected fire onto the ground. And just as the scorching heat became unbearable and the shuttle was about to strike the ground, the four friends stopped in their tracks, feeling a strange warmth in their chest.

Their eyes were closed and their ears shut to all sound. The students no longer knew where they were nor what was happening, their minds now devoid of thought and filled with a serenity they could not have understood. And then the moment was gone and they opened their eyes, now aware that the situation was not as it should be. Although altogether, they were no longer on the field, menaced by the falling asteroid. They were in fact far from where they had been, now on a flat rooftop several miles away.

But their relief could not last as they saw the cloud of dust rising from the school grounds. They had been saved, but the crisis had not been averted. Remnants of the aftershock from the collision could even be felt slightly. The survivors turned to each other their eyes betraying the dread of the events.

Once the initial shock passed, they realised that they were not alone: a strange tall man holding a large metal briefcase stood looking at them nearby. At least, they assumed that he was a man, but with the recent events which had transpired, the being felt out of place enough to make them believe there might be more to him. The man had humanoid facial features and looked to be quite old with a grey days old beard covering his chin. His head was further covered by a hood of another shade of green with silver linings in irregular patterns, all centering around what resembled a microchip on the forehead area of the hood. Grey hair flowed out of his hood to his shoulders.

The hood patterns seemed to continue on his black uniform, a tight one piece covering his body, arms, hands, legs and feet. Had one been close enough, they might have noticed the faint electrical charges which roamed through the silver lines on his suit.

"I know how much all of this must be a shock to you all and I do apologise for intruding like this," the man said in a calm and wise voice as he bent, saluting the young adults graciously. Every word he spoke made his skin gleam lightly. "My name is Orion and I… well, the world needs your help."

"Our help?" Kae asked in disbelief. A moment before she had been destined to die and now this man requested her assistance. She shook her head but said no more. Instead, Derek took the stand for them all.

"Look man, I don't know who you are but in case you didn't notice, a meteor almost killed us!"

"Oh my God, look!" Amanda shouted as she pointed back to where they had been. A big mushroom dust cloud now elevated towards the sky, the fatal aftermath of the crash. They couldn't see the destruction and death it had left in its wake, and could only be thankful for the ignorance.

"Oh my," Orion said, bringing the attention back to him. "Yes, the times are dire and that is what I came come, my friends. The world is facing a grave danger and we have little time to waste," he said, placing the briefcase carelessly on the edge of the rooftop. The box seemed made of steel, highly durable and had the familiar motifs covering it. They couldn't see any openings on it at first, but as Orion took the box, the motifs started to move, gradually opening the container in a rather complicated manner. Inside they discovered numerous bracelets separated in five separate compartments by color: red, pink, blue, yellow and black. "These are your matrix morphers," he added. "Please, take one each." Intrigued, Joshua made a move to take one, but Amanda gave him a stern look and he backed down.

"Look, we're not going to do anything until you tell us what is going on," Amanda said, arms crossed and defiant.

"But there is no time! Look!" he said, pointing to the area where the meteor had crash landed. "That was no accident my friends, nor was it a simple piece of rock. That meteor was a ship sent here with three others. They have come to this planet to drain it of its energy. If they are left to their designs, this planet will be completely destroyed within a matter of days."

"That's crazy!" Kae interjected. "Who's going to believe something like that? I'm sure there's a more logical explanation to all of this?"

"I do not mean to be brusque, but every moment you doubt me is an opportunity missed to save your world. I am not fully familiar with your species and culture, but know this: this planet is not the first they have visited. They have destroyed many worlds before this one. They have advanced weapons and skills and from what I gather of your technology," Orion added, looking at the buildings and cars below," you do not have the armament required to defeat them."

"But you do," Derek said, more of a statement than a question.

"Yes, these. As I said, they are matrix morphers. They can change each one of you and enable you to fight, even to stand a chance against your invaders. Take one each, please." His voice was now more hurried and pleading. Taking the initiative once more, Joshua took one of the blue bracelets and observed it. It seemed deceptively simple in design with a simple curved metal plate forming the gist of it and a colored line, which Josie discovered was actually a tailored gem, running down the length of it. He tentatively placed it on his right arm and found it a perfect fit. It even attached itself on its own.

Even though the moment was dire, Orion still smiled at the youth discovering this new power for the first time. "The second set is for your ankles. Quickly now," he said, bringing back the youth's attention to the box. Kae took the yellow morphers and Amanda the pink ones.

Once Derek tried to take the black one however, he felt a slight shock and retracted his hand.

"The morphers choose their masters just as much as the masters choose their morphers," Orion explained enigmatically. Derek slowly approached his hand once more and took the red morphers instead, this time feeling no resistance from them. As he put the four morphers on, he felt a strange energy inside of him. In a way, he felt stronger, although he didn't quite understand it. It was as if his strength didn't come from his muscles, but rather from his chest.

"Ok, you are ready. Now set your body straight and cross your arms. Watch me closely." Orion showed them a few arm movements to make, which the young adults needed to mimic. They had trouble at first, but rapidly got the hang of it. "Now you must do all of that and shout "Matrix Ranger, Power Up!" at the same time."

"Oh come on, now it's just getting stupid," Kae said, her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, I agree with Kae," Joshua added. "I mean, what is all of this? What are we doing?"

"The morphers are the containers of the new powers you now have available. To access this power, you need to activate the start-up sequence. Once you do, you will become the Matrix Power Rangers, the defenders of your planet!" he insisted, visibly very excited by what he was saying

"And with these… morphers, we will be able to fight against those invaders you keep taking about?" Amanda asked.

"Yes, yes! Look, you have nothing to lose. You already know the circumstances and you know that I have brought you here against all odds. You have no reason to doubt me. These criminals must be stopped once and for all."

Derek looked at his friends and they all nodded: they had nothing to lose and it was true that Orion had saved their lives. The red braced man took a step in front of his friends and initiated the sequence, followed in tandem with the other rangers. They all made the arm gestures and shouted "Matrix Rangers, Power Up!" As their arms moved, they saw the gems glow brightly of their color and when their arms unfolded for a last time, a great surge of light blinded them for a moment. But they were not afraid, as they felt a soothing warmth inside of them, not unlike the one they had felt when they had teleported moments before.

In a matter of seconds, they felt the energy travelling all through their bodies, from the bracelets to their chest, to their heads and as it did, they felt it covering them with some sort of substance. Once the transformation was complete, they found themselves covered with a spandex like suit which seemed made of the same material as Orion's own costume. They were each covered in their own assigned color and their heads covered by a helmet. The students looked at themselves and each other, dumbfounded that Orion had been completely truthful. And now that they knew that he had been honest about the suits, then they had no reason to doubt that an alien invasion was at hand either.

"Ok, so what do we do now?" the red ranger asked with an uncertain voice.

"You must go to the crash site… and fight. Your suits will show you how to fight and will amplify your strength and speed. Consider it a part of yourself, like a second skin. Learn to trust your suit and it will serve you well. Now go, your world needs you."

"Aren't you coming with us Orion?" the blue ranger asked with a hint of disappointment.

"I am sorry my friends. Although my suit is a ranger outfit, it has suffered a lot of battles and needs to be recharged. And because I am already tied to this one, I am unable to use the remaining black morpher. But I have faith in you," he added with a warm smile. "Trust yourselves and your ranger suits. Your planet is in your hands."

"Right!" they all said at once and turning back towards the crash site, the red ranger leapt into the air, somersaulting as he did and his team mates followed him dutifully. The acrobatic jump had been done instinctively, as if the new ranger somehow knew that it would get him to the school faster. The rangers didn't quite understand the process, but distance seemed to be relative and once they landed on their feet only seconds later, they found themselves having travelled back to where they had been saved. But they had no time to be amazed as the sight immediately struck to their hearts.

The meteor had impacted with the ground and had not only formed a crater several meters deep, but it seemed to have created some sort of explosion as well, charring the earth and grass around it. All around, the rangers could see people projected in the distance and lying on the ground, their helmets amplifying the gruesome scene intuitively as their eyes focused on the details. Tree had been torn out of the soil and even nearest building, which was at quite a walking distance, had lost part of its façade. And from the edge of the crater, they could see the fuming ship which had been the cause of it all. The craft was egg shaped and larger than they had expected, standing about as tall as a small two story building. Like the box containing the morphers, the craft had no openings, its contour smooth and in no visible way affected by the impact. As if on cue, their helmets switched to an x-ray scan which displayed the interior of the ship. Inside they found the outline of a large humanoid creature which was making its way towards what they could only assume was the computer console.

Instead of opening however, the egg pulsed with red energy, the flashes starting at slow intermittences before increasing in rhythm until it became so fast that it didn't seem to be glowing at all. Then, the craft shot a beam into the sky, responding to other similar lights from elsewhere in the city that the rangers had not noticed before. Once the beam ended, the egg shot another quick beam, this time directed at the earth in front of it and where no one had stood before now stood a rather large alien. It shared some affinities with a hippopotamus with its large mouth and dark leathery skin, but it also had bright red and blue hair and wore a black jump suit which wasn't covered in patterns like one Orion wore. The final touch to the outfit was a computerised belt at his waist and across his chest, with a satchel attached to it.

Through their silent queries, the rangers' helmets displayed the relevant information about the intruder: "Belvox, native of planet Shao. Believed to be a current member of the energy gathering party. Often works with kraigs. Should be considered armed and dangerous."

"Finally I can get out of that ship," Belvox whined in a deep grumbly voice as he stretched, his muscles audibly cracking. "I hate these travels. I don't care what anyone says: stasis sleep is not the end all method for long interstellar travels." He bent his neck from side to side and finished by shaking his head and body. "Well, I guess I should start now, Endran doesn't take well to delays."

"Stop it right there!" Derek shouted and together, they somersaulted to the bottom of the crater, in front of Belvox. "We will give you one warning: leave now, all of you. This planet is ours and we'll never let you drain it of its energy. You hear?"

"Oh no, not Power Rangers!" Belvox whined again. He had fought Power Rangers on other planets and knew that he could expect a long excruciating battle. And just out of a space travel, Belvox had no desire to face any kind of opponent, yet he couldn't see a way around it. Or perhaps…

Belvox wasn't a fool and noticed that these rangers didn't seem to feel as natural in their fighting forms as his other opponents had been. And since he was in no mood to test their skills, he figured that a small squad of kraigs may do the trick.

Belvox reached for his satchel and grabbed a handful of similar looking figurines, throwing them in the air between him and the rangers. Once they hit the ground, the familiar pulse of energy cruised through the figures and in a blast of light and smoke, they became man-sized creatures, almost fish beasts but with large claws on their hands and skin made of rock. They were unnatural looking creatures and cried like crows, menacing the humans with their claws as the shifted from side to side, analysing the threat. There were nine of them and they were all ready to rip the rangers to shreds.

The rangers changed their stances, taking a more defensive posture. Their helmets detailed the kraigs as bioengineered creatures created specifically as expendable soldiers for warfare. They were crafted for speed, strength and resistance, likely stronger than any normal human being, let alone an armed one. The rangers could only hope that their suits would provide as much strength as Orion had promised.

The opponents looked at each other, the humans nervous but steady and the creatures savage and feral. Then as if on cue, both ran towards each other, the rangers spreading out and the kraigs choosing their targets. The red ranger jumped, turned and kicked his first opponent behind the head, sending him on the ground but leaving himself open for the second monster who slashed at his torso. The claws struck the spandex like armor which absorbed the impact and let out sparks, hurting Derek slightly but protecting him from most of the damage. Both sides now had their first strikes and the fight was on.

As Orion had said, the ranger suits seemed to have a life of their own. They didn't control the rangers' actions, but they guided them to attack, block and move in an optimal fashion. It was like a second instinct, they could feel that certain movements felt infinitesimally easier to perform but subconsciously, it made all the difference in the world. They could not avoid every strike, but could usually reduce strong blows to weak scrapes or dodge them altogether.

Derek had managed to keep his opponents well under control, possibly the best out of all the rangers, understanding naturally when to fight, roll or simply jump over his opponents. His strikes were fierce and he quickly got the trick to block and counterattack rapidly. His sister Amanda didn't trade as many blows, instead avoiding danger and striking when she saw an opening. She didn't feel pressured into attacking and instead wisely chose to bid her time until her opponent gave her an opening to exploit. Kae on the other hand wanted to go toe to toe with the kraigs and remained in close quarters with them, receiving more hits than the rest of her team-mates but dispatching her opponents much faster as well. As for Joshua, he had more trouble adapting to his costume than his friends and did all he could to defend himself against the menaces and try to keep up with the frenetic waltz.

The kraigs were fierce in their attacks and compensated method with physical resilience. Even though the rangers had their armors to resist attacks, their opponents were more than well adapted to hand-to-hand combat and it took them all of their skill, both human and artificial, to push them back and strike them down. Thankfully, the rangers were good enough to resist and even managed to take the upper hand against the larger group of villains.

A rogue kraig managed to kick Joshua who backed off towards his friends, but Kae would not let the deed be left unpunished. She jumped to the blue ranger's shoulders and descended with her heel to the monster's head, making him burst into dust. By then, the other henchmen had been dispatched as well, leaving piles of dust on the ground and a scared Belvox to contemplate it all.

He had expected the rangers to be new and disorganised, and they were to some extent, but he still had to admit to their skills. Had he entered the fray, he would have been defeated quite easily. The alien grunted of annoyance, recall past victory against other rangers, back in simpler times. Now, all he could do was activate the distress beacon on his belt. It wouldn't get him any points with the boss, but would still be better than suffering defeat.

"Give it up Belvox, you're finished," Derek shouted.

But the rangers were surprised to see a new person materialise next to Belvox. Theirs helmet quickly identified the nude silver creature as K'Trency, who also worked to bring energy back to planet Shao. It also detailed that she and Belvox had often been seen working together and that she was even deadlier than he was. K'Trency looked and felt much different from Belvox, as if she was emotionless. Even her eyes were of plain silver, devoid of any feeling.

"What is taking so long Belvox?"

"I'm sorry, but look. This planet has rangers too! And they're strong too, they just destroyed a pouch full of kraigs!" His voice was apologetic and obviously afraid of the dame. But she was neither impressed nor interested in hearing his excuses.

"If you can't do it yourself, just use a mercenary. That's why we hired them right?"

"Hey yeah! You're right! Oh, you're going to get it now rangers." His voice had taken a more sinister tone now and the group braced themselves for another offensive. Belvox reached to his belt and tapped on a few buttons. To the human's surprise, a hologram appeared before him like a screen, displaying diverse mercenaries and he continued his input. "Ok, so who am I going to choose…? Aha! The perfect choice. Come, Tarroq!" And with a last button press, a new creature was teleported in from an unknown location and entered the fray.

Tarroq was an anthropomorphic reptilian like creature, standing at over seven feet with massive muscles covered with green scales and clashing metal armor. He was the archetype of a warrior with a large sword attached at his hip and a two headed spear strapped on his back. The rangers also noticed various colored markings along the bottom of the armor which felt very out of place.

The warrior took two steps and drew his sword, keeping it in the air for a moment before letting it fall to the ground, carving a hole in it by the impact. It was so large and heavy looking that none of the rangers thought they could wield it themselves, let alone carry it. But Tarroq held it with a single hand, growling and ready to strike.

"Ah, I see," he said, his voice deep and bestial. "So I guess I was taken out of my sleep to deal with another batch of rangers." He laughed audibly, visibly familiar with the situation. Tarroq was cocky, but the rangers were not fooled either: they knew he would be a dangerous foe to deal with. Their helmets explained that his colored marks represented the number of rangers he had killed. They counted over twenty marks on the armor.

The reptilian beast bent his head sideways and his neck cracked loudly. He then turned his arm and placed his sword before him, smiling as the sword drew a line in the rubble. The blade was more dangerous than simple tempered steel, it channelled his energy and could easily carve any obstacle placed before it.

Suddenly, with a flick of his wrist and arm, he slashed the air, his own energy flowing through the blade and out of it like a saw blade. The slash travelled through the air and struck the ground just before the rangers, making it explode and sending them through the air. Again, their suits had been invaluable to their safe keeping as they hit the ground hard, but although they were wounded, the defenders of the earth were still well alive and they got back to their feet almost instantly.

Once more, Tarroq laughed at the scene. "That was only a warning shot." The rangers would have liked their adversary to be only bluffing, but their helmets confirmed that he was far stronger than he had let on through his first attack. Still, the rangers placed themselves in a ready fighting stance, making the reptile smirk.

"Oh, so you wanna fight, don't you?" Tarroq offered with another laugh. "Well come on! Bring it!"

And bring it, the rangers did as they dashed towards their new opponent, kicking and punching, jumping to strike from the air, leaping fluidly from side to side, hitting Tarroq's body and avoiding his weak retaliations. They fought together as a team, a bit clumsily but their suits once more aided them in their endeavours and to the entrained eyes, one might have seen only flashes of red, blue, yellow and pink all around the monster.

Yet their blows seemed to do no harm the alien wouldn't have broken a sweat if he had been able to. He made little movements to avoid the strikes and only blocked what he deemed necessary, striking weakly only to position the rangers as he saw fit. Once he was satisfied, Tarroq drew his mighty blade and struck four times, each time fitting the rangers squarely in the chest and sending them in the distance with a fury of sparks.

"He's just too strong!" Amanda said, panting heavily and trying to keep her head cool. The armor had survived but there was definite bruising. She had felt the blow like a punch to the stomach and was surprised that she could even speak. She knew that another such blow would decimate her.

"Come on guys, we can't give up!" Derek said, also hurt badly but refusing to show weakness in front of his friends. Right now more than ever, they needed a leader to look up to. He rose once more to his feet and one by one, the other rangers did as well.

"You're right," Kae added. "We're the power rangers! The world is depending on us. We can't back off now!"

"Typical power rangers, always trying to encourage each other and following the motto to never give up. You're all the same, fighting until your last breath. Well don't worry, I'll make sure that breath comes swiftly." Tarroq repositioned himself, turning his hips and legs to dash towards his rangers. "Let me show you just how dire your situation is. Twin Slayer! Fatal Strike!"

They couldn't have avoided it, despite their best efforts and intentions. The rangers had never received any training, never faced this kind of danger and as Tarroq dashed towards them, everything seemed to slow down. The reptilian warrior swung his sword over his head and threw it towards his enemies. They could see the energy cruising through the weapon and knew that they had to avoid it at all cost and so they jumped up high in the air, following the blade with their eyes as it flew under them. But they had been duped. In a fraction of a second, Tarroq was airborne as well and travelling at furious speed towards the blue ranger, grinning from ear to ear.

"Gotcha," he said as he drew his spear for the mortal strike. But Derek would not let anyone die under his command and with a final masterful feat, threw himself against Joshua, sending his friend out of the way of the deadly blow. The twin headed spear struck Derek in the chest and stomach, punching through his rib cage and piercing his whole his body like butter. Tarroq than fell back to the ground, spear and red ranger in hand and planted the weapon firmly in the soil.

Still above ground, time seemed to resume for the rangers, who now heard their friend's cries of anguish, Derek's pain washing over them and breaking their spirits within a moment. Their movements became uncoordinated and they fell hard to the ground. But they immediately got back up and ran to their friend. They wanted to help him so badly but the spear would not budge and could only stand hopelessly as the screams died down to a whimper, and then nothing.

The rangers had never considered themselves invincible with their new found powers, but they had never considered the eventuality of death either. Yet the results of the battle were unmistakable. They had failed and one of them had fallen. Soon, they would all fall.

Tarroq turned towards his employers. "You know my rates. I killed the red ranger. Do I go on with the rest?"

"No, that is quite enough thank you," K'Trency said. "You will get your reward when we get back to Shao. You may go back into stasis now." K'Trency did not want to use the mercenary more than necessary. She could see the results on the other humans and knew that they were no longer in any condition to fight. Soon, the world would become a ruin like countless others they had destroyed along their journey through the galaxy. Let them have their remaining days in as much peace as they still had.

As the mercenary teleported away, the metallic woman turned to her underling. "We are off, Belvox." Her tone was cold and calculating, and not subject to being questioned. The man-beast nodded and together they teleported away, secure in their knowledge that the ship could not be used against them by the humans.

The rangers barely noticed the departure of their foes. They were terrified and confused. And in the distance, Orion, who had been walking towards the battle scene, saw the ordeal and he felt sad as well. He never had wanted any harm to come to the young adults, but there was a war brewing and if no one stepped in, it would be over before it even started. The rangers only had a few days to get their act together. And he knew that for every day lost, the casualties would be incalculable.

"You killed my brother!" Amanda cried out, only now noticing Orion. She ran towards him and punched him in the face with all the energy of despair. The armor gave a weak resistance, but couldn't stop the blow which sent Orion to the ground. He had not tried to block the attack and felt his face in great pain, yet he didn't defend himself any further. He felt responsible for Derek's death and a punch to the face was his just reward.

But the other rangers didn't see it in that light and they held the pink ranger back, preventing her from hurting Orion further.

"Stop it Amy! Stop!" Kae kept crying out and behind her helmet, one could hear her tears.

"It's over. It's over," kept repeating Joshua as he held his girlfriend against him. Amanda fought against it at first, before letting herself go in his arms. He was right, there was nothing she or anyone could do. Not even Orion.

"I'm sorry that I had to come to this," Orion said as he got back up. "I guess I've not been completely fair with you. I didn't choose you because you were the best, I chose you because you were what I had available to me in the short amount of time I had."

"Hey, could we do this another time?" Kae intervened. "One of our friends just died here!"

"I'm sorry, but the time is dire. You don't have a lot of time, your whole planet is in danger unless you keep the invaders at bay."

"Then find someone else to do it! Someone competent! Just take our morphers and go!" Amanda shook her arms and legs as she tried to remove the unseen morphers. As if it understood her, her helmet gave her the option to cancel the transformation, which she promptly took. With a flash of light, she reverted to her normal clothes, but despite her best intentions, the braces remained firmly attached to her arms like shackles. The other rangers quickly discarded their outfits as well, leaving them stumbling in a daze.

"You will not be able to remove the morphers, as they are tied to you and your DNA," Orion admitted, approaching the group. "It is a measure to prevent them from being stolen. Right now, there are more serious matters to attend however. You have not succeeded in stopping Endran, which means that he will be able to set up his device somewhere hidden and start draining the energy. It is imperative that you stop him rapidly."

"Who are you really?" Joshua asked, his questions filled with the frustration of losing his best friend. "Why are you trying to save us like this?"

Orion hesitated briefly, but he saw in the faces of the rangers that they all wanted to know. The situation was brittle and they would hang on to any stable element. As he was about to reveal his story however, the group all heard a landing noise and as they turned, they found a black ranger crouched near Derek's body.

"Hey, leave him alone!" Amanda shouted and the black ranger looked up to her. He seemed curious about the group, but quickly returned to the former red ranger and took the bracelets from him. Satisfied, the ranger stood up.

"I have what I wanted. Thank you!" he said and with a twist of the feet, he leapt in the air and out of sight. Amanda ran to her brother and found him in his regular clothes, his ranger outfit gone and his chest bearing the two holes made by Tarroq's weapon, still fresh and flowing with blood which soaked his shirt. But Derek's face looked surprisingly peaceful.

"Oh no, this is really bad," Orion said. "When a ranger dies, he is no longer bound to his morpher and a new person may use it, but they should still have remained attached to him. But there is worst: I was careless. While you were fighting, I found someone else to help you and gave him the black ranger suit. But once he heard the story, he just laughed and said that he had no intention of helping you out. And now it seems that he has the red ranger morpher as well. There is no telling what damage he might do. But for now we should leave. The authorities are sure to be here soon and we must prepare for your next confrontation."

"What do you mean next confrontation? You've seen what Tarroq did to us. What is there left to do?"

"We fight." Kae decided. "You're right Josie, we're not the best suited to find these monsters. We probably shouldn't be here. We shouldn't have to face all of this." She nodded towards Derek, and took a deep breath. Although she was in better control than the other two rangers, Kae also felt the strain of the situation. When she resumed, her voice felt tired, but determined. "But we are here, by luck or bad luck, or maybe by fate. We were chosen to fight against these guys and we don't have a lot of time to do it either. If we give up on the fight, we might be dooming our planet. Think about it, how much time would it take to find the right people to fight monsters like these? The police? The army? They'll never listen to us, not before it's too late at least."

"I realise how desperate your situation is," Orion said," and it is true that as you are, you do not stand a chance. The power ranger costumes were conceived to unleash their full potential when they fight together. We need to find the other two rangers and somehow convince them to fight by your side. It is the only way that your planet may stand a chance."

"Amy," Joshua finally said, after a long pause. "Your brother was ready to fight for this. We have no choice, we have to do all we can to stop the invasion. Maybe we'll fall but if we do nothing, we're all dead anyways."

"Alright then," Amy responded after thinking about it. She still didn't like it, but had to admit that they were right. For better or worst, they were all in this together and now she had to fight for her species. And she would have to do it fast, before the villains made their move.


End file.
